ARE U.S. SHARK STOCKS IN TROUBLE? THE STATUS OF MOST U.S. SHARK STOCKS IS UNKNOWN 62.5% 6.25% 40 STOCKS HAVE 4 STOCKS ARE OVERFISHED AND UNKNOWN STATUS* EXPERIENCING OVERFISHING 12.5% 18.75% 8 STOCKS HAVE MIXED STATUS INFORMATION 12 STOCKS ARE NOT OVERFISHED AND NOT EXPERIENCING OVERFISHING ITIONS FIN DE STOCK: A species, subspecies, geographical grouping OVERFISHING: The population is OVERFISHED: The or other category of fish capable of management as caught at a faster rate than it can population size is a unit (e.g. Atlantic blacktip sharks) reproduce1 too small2 BACKGROUND ACCORDING TO THE U.S. Dusky sharks in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico GOVERNMENT, THERE ARE 64 SHARK and porbeagle sharks in the northwestern Atlantic will take 100 years to rebuild to STOCKS LISTED IN U.S. WATERS sustainable levels. Under federal law, U.S. fisheries are required to The oceanic whitetip, a stock with “unknown” use science-based catch limits to prevent status in the Atlantic and Pacific, was recently overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks. To do listed as threatened under the Endangered this, we need to know how many fish are in the Species Act. water and how many are caught, sharks included. Unfortunately, we lack this key information for One out of every four sharks and their relatives many shark stocks in the U.S. are threatened with extinction globally.5 *18 of the 40 stocks with unknown status are prohibited species, some of which are still actively caught as bycatch. ARE U.S. SHARK STOCKS IN TROUBLE? STOCK OVERFISHING? OVERFISHED? Blacknose shark - Gulf of Mexico Unknown Unknown Blacktip shark - Atlantic Unknown Unknown Bonnethead shark - Atlantic Unknown Unknown Bonnethead shark - Gulf of Mexico Unknown Unknown Spinner shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Silky shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Silky shark - Western and Central Pacific Unknown Unknown Tiger shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Lemon shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Nurse shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Great hammerhead shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Smooth hammerhead shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Oceanic whitetip shark - Pelagic Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Oceanic whitetip shark - Western and Central Pacific Unknown Unknown Bigeye thresher shark - Pacific Unknown Unknown Pelagic thresher shark - North Pacific Unknown Unknown Thresher shark - Pelagic Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Thresher shark - North Pacific Unknown Unknown Longfin mako shark - North Pacific Unknown Unknown Shortfin mako shark - North Pacific Unknown Unknown Salmon shark - North Pacific Unknown Unknown Bull shark - Atlantic Large Coastal Shark Complex Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Atlantic angel shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Basking shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Bigeye sand tiger shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Sand tiger shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Bigeye thresher shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Bignose shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Caribbean reef shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Caribbean sharpnose shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Galapagos shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Longfin mako shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Narrowtooth shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Night shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Bigeye sixgill shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Sixgill shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Sevengill shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Smalltail shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - Whale shark Unknown Unknown Prohibited Species - White shark Unknown Unknown Atlantic sharpnose shark - Atlantic No No Atlantic sharpnose shark - Gulf of Mexico No No Blacktip shark - Gulf of Mexico No No Blue shark - North Atlantic No No Blue shark - North Pacific No No Spiny dogfish - Atlantic Coast No No Spiny dogfish - Pacific Coast No No Smooth dogfish - Gulf Smoothhound Complex No No Smooth dogfish - Atlantic No No Florida smoothhound - Gulf Smoothhound Complex No No Gulf smoothhound - Gulf Smoothhound Complex No No Finetooth shark - Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico No No Porbeagle shark - Northwestern Atlantic No Yes Sandbar shark - Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico No Yes Pacific Sleeper shark - Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Shark Complex No Unknown Pacific Sleeper shark - Gulf of Alaska Shark Complex No Unknown Salmon shark - Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Shark Complex No Unknown Salmon shark - Gulf of Alaska Shark Complex No Unknown Spiny dogfish - Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Shark Complex No Unknown Spiny dogfish - Gulf of Alaska Shark Complex No Unknown Blacknose shark - Atlantic Yes Yes Dusky shark - Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Yes Yes Scalloped hammerhead shark - Atlantic Yes Yes Shortfin mako shark - North Atlantic Yes Yes 1 Pew Fact Sheet available at http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2017/07/usoc_us_has_made_progress_in_restoring_ocean_fish.pdf 2 NOAA Status of U.S. Fisheries available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/population-assessments/status-us-fisheries#status-determinations 3 National Marine Fisheries Service Status of Stocks Update – 4th Quarter 2017 Update. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/population-assessments/fishery-stock-status-updates#quarterly-updates 4 Not including the data collection only species which includes an additional 31 species 5 Dulvy, N.K., Fowler, S.L., Musick, J.A., Cavanagh, R.D., Kyne, P.M., Harrison, L.R., Carlson, J.K., Davidson, L.N., Fordham, S.V., Francis, M.P. and Pollock, C.M., 2014. Extinction risk and conservation of the world’s sharks and rays. Elife, 3.